Georgian goal remains the same

As the USSR entered its final days at the end of the 1980s, the first steps towards an independent Georgia were taken by the country's football community.

On 15 February 1990 the Football Congress of Georgia decided to abandon the competitions of the Soviet Union and organise its own national championship. At the same time, Nodar Akhalkatsi, who as coach led FC Dinamo Tbilisi to glory in the 1981 European Cup Winners' Cup, was elected as the first president of an autonomous Georgian Football Federation (Sakartvelos Fekhburtis Federatsia – SFF). The USSR would finally collapse in December 1991.

As well as witnessing the initial staging of the Georgian Premier League, nowadays Erovnuli Liga (initially Umaglesi Liga), 1990 was also notable for Georgia's national team debut. On 27 May, they achieved a 2-2 friendly draw with Lithuania. Further momentum was gained when the GFF was admitted to football's worldwide governing body FIFA and subsequently became a full member of UEFA in 1992.

The national team made their competitive bow in the qualifying tournament for EURO '96, kicking off at home to Moldova on 7 September 1994. Although that match was lost, the new country performed impressively by finishing third in a qualification group containing Germany, Bulgaria, Albania and Wales. It was against the Welsh that Georgia claimed their first competitive win – a 5-0 victory in Tbilisi – earned by goals from Temuri Ketsbaia (2), Georgi Kinkladze, Gocha Gogrichiani and Shota Arveladze. The side were then level on points with third-placed Poland in their maiden attempt at FIFA World Cup qualification, for France '98, before making that position their own –behind Italy and Romania – in the preliminaries for the 2002 World Cup.

Under Nodar Akhalkatsi Jr, who was in charge of the GFF in the first decade of the 21st century, some big-name coaches were brought in to work with the national team including Klaus Toppmöller and Héctor Cúper. However it was former Georgia player Ketsbaia who has had the most success, launching his tenure with ten unbeaten matches and going on to amass an unequalled 40 games at the helm. Among these, a 0-0 draw with France and 1-0 triumph against Croatia when Levan Kobiashvili scored the only goal. Later, Kobiashvili became the first man to play 100 times for Georgia. The Georgian national team is now coached by Slovakian Vladimir Weiss, and a notable success was achieved in a 1-0 win against Spain in a friendly in June 2016.

Georgia have made their mark at youth level too, reaching the final tournament of several underage competitions. After appearances in the 1997 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the 1999 UEFA European U19 Championship, they surpassed those achievements by getting to the quarter-finals of the U17 event in 2002. They had to wait ten years for their next notable result but it was worth it as Georgia made it to the semi-finals of 2012 UEFA European U17 Championship before featuring at the 2013 UEFA European U19 Championship finals.

In the club game, Georgian teams figure each year in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, routinely beginning in the preliminary rounds. However, the nation's representatives have still to attain the standard set by Dinamo Tbilisi in the late 1970s and early 80s. Dinamo not only lifted the Cup Winners' Cup, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1981 final in Dusseldorf; Nodar Akhalkatsi Sr's side were also semi-finalists the following season. Additionally, they had knocked Liverpool FC out of the European Champion Clubs' Cup on their competition debut in 1979.

Another landmark in Georgia's football development came in 1998 when, under the presidency of Merab Zhordania, the GFF reorganised the Premier League structure, reducing it from 16 to 12 teams. This change, one of a series of reforms carried out at the time, had a positive effect as borne out by increased attendance at matches and a fresher, more exciting top flight. Next came Dinamo Tbilisi's qualification for the UEFA Cup group stage in 2004 when the tournament was first played under its new format.

Under a new five-year strategic plan, amateur football is taking prominence. Nationwide competitions involve eleven regions with more than 300 amateur teams and around 8,000 players. The aim is for Georgian amateur football to boost its profile, and strive for participation in the UEFA Region's Cup - which last featured a Georgian team in 2008. Georgia has also fine-tuned its domestic futsal structures from 2016, and the national team is showing promise, qualifying for the UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 playoffs.

The first-ever national women's championship was launched in 2016 with six participants, increasing to nine in 2017. A great honour came Georgia's way when it was appointed as hosts of the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Chanmpionship final round in 2020.

President

Levan Kobiashvili

Nationality: GeorgianDate of birth: 10 July 1977Association president since: 2015

• Levan Kobiashvili started at FC Metalurgi Rustavi and FC Dinamo Tbilisi, but spent most of his playing career abroad. After a year in Russia at FC Alaniya Vladikavkaz, the defender moved to Germany, where he played for SC Freiburg, FC Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC Berlin. He is second in the list of non-German players to have played the most matches in Germany's Bundesliga (351).

• He made his debut for Georgia on 1 September 1996 in a friendly against Norway in Oslo, and soon became a fixture in the team. His country's Footballer of the Year in 2000 and 2005, he become the first Georgian to reach a century of international caps when he took the field against Greece on 11 October 2011.

• Kobiashvili obtained a coaching licence and graduated from a sports management academy in Germany after ending his playing career in 2014. He was elected as president of the Georgian Football Federation (GFF) in October 2015. "This day is very emotional for me. I can only compare it with when I first came to see a football match, or when I received my first call-up to the national team," said Kobiashvili at the association's congress in Tbilisi.

General secretary

David Mujiri

• David Mujiri is the son of FC Dinamo Tbilisi defender Dmitri Mujiri. After winning the Georgian title in 1998, the 20-year-old was named the best player in the league by a daily sports newspaper, and moved to Moldovan club FC Sheriff.

• Mujiri won the Moldovan double with Sheriff in 2001, and finished the season as the league's best goalscorer with 17 goals to his name. He was soon on his way to SK Sturm Graz and spent five years in Austria, helping his team to the domestic runners-up spot and cup final in 2002.

• He later had spells at FC Krylya Sovetov Samara and FC Lokomotiv Moskva in Russia, as well as at Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan. After returning to his native country, he won the Georgian title with FC Zestaponi in 2012 before finishing his professional career and taking the helm of the club the same year. Mujiri was later sports director of FC Samtredia. He has a degree in journalism and, besides Georgian, fluently speaks Russian, German and English.

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